Der Stuff Innenseite
Stranger Than the New $20 Bill
The Pittsburgh Airport
I've thought this concept through thoroughly. Last December, after visiting my lovely family for the holidays and to deliver the news that I wasn't getting married after all, like I had announced with much fan fare the previous Christmas and the intended young man was moving out, Eventually, I had to go home and face my ex-intended. I think I asked him to move out round about December 20 (I never said my timing was perfect) then I hopped on an airplane to exotic Ohio on December 23rd and had to return on the 28th. I didn't want to come back. I wanted to stay with my family and not deal with the aftermath of my decision. I knew it wouldn't be pretty. I knew he would ask to get back together. I knew he would pull out all the stops to either make himself seem like the best thing since sliced bread or the human incarnation of the devil himself. And, just for the record, I was right. But if I couldn't stay with my family, the Pittsburgh airport would do just fine.
It's
just about impossible to get a direct flight from Dayton, Ohio to Newark,
New Jersey. I guess not too many people travel between those two meccas
of culture and entertainment. You either have to go through Chicago, Atlanta,
Cleveland or Pittsburgh. I chose Pittsburgh on USAirways because it's
fast and kind of cheap. Besides, who can resist the allure of Pittsburgh?
It's one of those cities that nobody ends up in voluntarily, kind of like
Akron. Maybe it's the combination of steel mills and bad sports teams
that appeals to me so much. After all, I have always loved an underdog.
And finally, Pittsburgh is the former home of Vonderheid's Bakery during
the Great Depression.
The Pittsburgh airport is really quite lovely. It is clean, has those moving walkways, spacious hallways and, most importantly for travelers who are already carrying too much junk around, shopping. There's a Gap, a Body Shop and a Victoria's Secret (in case you are traveling to some out of the way place to have a torrid love affair and forgot all your sexy lingerie, or if the bag that contains your underwear, gets lost). There's an Arby's, which always places a high amount of esteem on a place in my book. There's a Tie Rack, if you are going to visit Dad, but forgot to buy him a stupid gift. There's a TGI Friday's for those who are afraid fly can get ripped on overpriced, watered down, frilly drinks. There's a Clinique counter so you can spend way too much money on moisturizers you don't need since there's no way in hell you are going to look good because you just got off a plane. There is even a subway train, to transport you from one end of the airport to another. I'd have to say, it isn't quite the same as the New York subway because there are no rats and it doesn't smell like shit.
Like I said before, it wasn't pretty getting the guy out of my apartment. He broke a good portion of my dishes before he left. I was a wreck for a while. I still kind of am. But I went back to the Pittsburgh airport for another trip to exotic Ohio in May. It made me happy to think that although you could live in the Pittsburgh airport, I no longer want to.